Good for the NYT buying Wirecutter instead of making their own.

I am a big fan of Wirecutter. When they say this is the best keyboard or router, I very often buy it, sight-unseen. The Bluetooth headphones they recommended are my favorite. I've bought a second pair (the first was spoiled in a rainstorm) and get them as gifts for friends. They really are that good and are also a good deal. 

I view Wirecutter as my gadget-savvy friend. I have one in real-life, David Jacobs, who started the Fetish column in the early days of Wired. When you know someone who knows what's good and can tell you why, just do what they say. It's a way of benefiting from their know-how without having to attain it yourself. 

I feel the same way about NYT reviews. If a movie gets a Critic's Choice from the Times, I go see it. Even if I end up not liking the movie, and that does happen, I still feel it's interesting to see how my point of view differed from theirs. 

If they got a cut from the sale of a movie ticket, I have no problem with that. I am pretty confident that their recommendation would be the same, either way -- as I am confident in Wirecutter. And it's good because it helps flow cash through the NYT and the readers know that, but as long as they're finding you good products, this is exactly the kind of stuff you like to pay for.

And maybe along the line, their editors will discover niches where there should be products, but aren't. It's good to write those things up too, and some of them could be projects the NYT Co could invest in. 

If you're gathering the best information first, that can have a lot of benefits, beyond getting people to pay for subscriptions. 

It's good to see the Times find other businesses that make more sense online than they did in print. Wirecutter and the things that follow from it are certainly one example of such a business.